How far can a chick fall?

[Chickens-246]

I have raised a few groups of chicks over the years and never really handled them till they are full grown. Looking to see if I can increase the number of friendly full growns, I thought I would be more proactive. So I put my hand in the brooder of 3 day olds, so they can get used to it. While the others scattered, one proceeded to jump on my hand and crawl up my arm to greet me. I was thrilled to say the least. Then it dawned on me once it got up there, are chicks stupid enough to jump from this "impressive" height?

So, will chicks leap to their "death"? How far can they fall onto a hard (concrete) surface without being hurt?

I would like to handle them more, but concerned of the tiny things getting hurt.

 

[fancbrd4me02]

They can fall a couple of feet and if they land right, be unhurt. But any fall can lead to an injury, so it's best to avoid it. If you are afraid they might get away from you, handle them while sitting until you get the hang of it. That way if they take a leap, it won't be far to fall.

 

[Cowgrl4life]

I am in NO way saying it is ok for chicks to fall from a height, but working at Orschln's we have one stackable brooder that the tallest one is probably 5ft in the air and I've seen chicks fall out of it before when other people werent paying enough attention

. I've seen several fall from this height (onto concrete) and not one has been hurt from it. In my opinion they're pretty hardy little things to handle a fall that high up. Obviously you dont want them to fall from that far up, but I dont see a couple feet hurting them. Just watch and try not to let them, and if one slips out, dont have a heart attack

 

[patnjess]

I don't know my 2 yearold dropped one a few weeks ago, it was a couple days old, and broke her leg, they all must sit now. i had to put her down.

 

[Cowgrl4life]

maybe its not so much how high they fall from as HOW they fall then. IDK

 

[Chickens-246]

OK, thanks. I was thinking a foot high would be instant death.

 

[QuackerOats]

Well.. I had an accident where one of my two week old chicks fell three feet onto a carpet floor. She didn't seem at all fazed by it......but I nearly had a panic attack...

 

[bigstack]

I had a newly hatched chick jump out of the bator and land on the kitchen floor! Didn't even phase it!!! I almost had a heart attack!!! It was my first hatch too! I think it is how they land aswell.

Good Luck and Handle as much as safely possible! LOL

God Bless!

 

[Shelby's Chickens]

I was showing my (6 week old) chick to my uncle. The chick is named Charlie. My uncle recently had a bad leg injury and cannot walk very far so he was up on the deck (upper floor is the main level) and so I brought the chick up to the deck. We have 9 foot high ceilings on top of the rail putting it at approximately a 15 foot fall. Charlie is a very tame chick (I hatched them and handle them a lot) and she was just laying down in my hand. And then suddenly she stood, hopped the 5 feet to the rail from my hand and then down. She was, thankfully, completely unharmed.

The chicks will never again be brought onto the deck or upstairs AT ALL

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I have hatched or rather a few of my hens stole nest in the loft of a large dairy barn and once the chicks hatched and hardened off (3 days old) the mama hen flew down to the barn yard and called her children to follow her. Everyone of them jumped and were non-the-worse.

A scientist following the survival rate of wild hatched wood duck ducklings produced findings that showed that the ducklings that hatched 50 feet or higher in a hollow tree and must survive the 50+ foot fall to the forest floor survived better than the ones who only fell 10 feet. Of course before they landed the little ducks hatched in the penthouse ricocheted off every knot and tree limb on the hollow tree.

Finally, in large commercial hatcheries baby chicks routinely ride a conveyor belt that unceremoniously drops the little darlings 3 stories or more to the packing floor where they are then crated up for the trip to a chicken nugget factory. They seem better for the experience instead of worse.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...CD571E6714B0260EE2FCCD571E6714B02&FORM=VRDGAR

When you view the above video please notice that the wee ducks land ever-which-way even on their backs without injury.